CARBON REMOVAL 101
ABOUT US
The Center for Carbon Removal is a
non-profit dedicated to curtailing
climate change. We focus on igniting
action to develop and implement
strategies for removing carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere.
We lead industry and policy collaborations to unlock the potential of
carbon removal solutions by:
Conducting research and
analysis to highlight opportunities and to address challenges
surrounding carbon removal.
Hosting events that engage
public, private, and civil sector
organizations to accelerate the
development of carbon
removal solutions.
Curating a comprehensive
online hub for high-quality
information and discussion
about carbon removal.
THE FIVE “W’s” OF CARBON REMOVAL
- who, what, where, when, and why The term "carbon removal" refers to any
process or system capable of removing and
sequestering carbon from the air, enabling us
to clean up emissions that have accumulated
in the atmosphere.
This fact sheet provides an introduction to
the emerging field of "negative emissions”.
WHY DO WE NEED CARBON REMOVAL?
Climate experts are increasingly convinced that carbon removal solutions are
needed as a complement to other greenhouse gas abatement strategies to
curb climate change. The more climate solutions in our toolkit, the
more stakeholders we can motivate to take climate action, increasing climate
ambition without unduly sacrificing economic prosperity.
WHY DO WE NEED CARBON REMOVAL? (cont.)
Billion Tons Carbon Dioxide
“The large majority of scenarios produced
in the literature that reach roughly 450
ppm CO2eq by 2100 are characterized by
concentration overshoot facilitated by the
deployment of carbon dioxide removal
(CDR) technologies.”
BAU
100
50
0
CARBON
REMOVAL
Path to 2°C
-20
2000
2025
2050
2075
IPCC: Fifth Assessment Report on Climate
Change. Chapter 6 from Working Group 3
2100
Graphic adapted from the Climate Institute Moving Below Zero report
Models show that carbon removal solutions are not just critical for limiting global temperature increases to 2°C, but also are relied upon to prevent even higher scenarios of warming.
WHAT INDUSTRIES HOLD POTENTIAL FOR CARBON
REMOVAL SOLUTIONS?
Forestry/Land
Agriculture
Ecosystem
Restoration
Biochar
Timber
Land Management
BIOLOGICAL
Energy
Manufacturing
Enhanced
Weathering
Bioenergy + CCS
Direct Air Capture
Mining
Carbon Negative
Materials
CHEMICAL
WHEN DO WE START?
Today! Most carbon removal solutions need
industry and policy support to reach commerical
scale deployment. Some approaches need
technology innovation to bring down costs. Others
need science to confirm sequestration potential.
Only swift and focused research and deployment
can unlock the true potential of carbon removal.
Estimated cost ( $/ton CO2)
$100
Direct Air Capture
and Sequestration
BioCCS
Biochar
Enhanced Weathering
Carbon Negative Materials
Carbon removal approaches
may not deliver the greatest
carbon impact per dollar spent
on emission abatement today,
but accelerating the pace of
R&D holds the potential to
change this in the near future.
In many ways, the carbon
removal field is reminiscent of
the renewable energy field in
the 1980s: investments in early
deployments can drive down
costs and build markets to
support these solutions in the
future.
Afforestation/
Ecosystem Restoration
Land Management
Estimated supply (billion tons
CO2 annually)
10 Bt
No identified
supply limit
Note: The cost and supply estimates to the left are
based on publicly availabile projections; significant
uncertaintites remain around ultimate scale and cost
potential for all approaches.
WHERE IS CARBON REMOVAL
RESEARCH HAPPENING?
All over - across geographies and
sectors. Startups, universities, and
major corporations are all pursuing carbon removal solutions.
Here's the catch: current levels of
activity are simply not at the scale
needed to ensure the swift development of these technologies.
WHO CAN HELP TO ADVANCE CARBON REMOVAL?
INDUSTRY
ACADEMIA
Academics across fields
can work to advance
carbon removal research
to refine specific technologies, better understand
carbon cycle science for
measurement and
verification efforts, and
explore the sustainable
scale potential of different carbon removal
pathways.
Industry can work to
foster new, innovative,
and sustainable businesses
across sectors, engaging
in public-private partnerships to demonstrate and
deploy promising carbon
removal solutions.
CONTACT US
CENTER FOR
CARBON
REMOVAL
www.centerforcarbonremoval.org
[email protected]
@CarbonRemoval
(510) 664 - 7153
GOVERNMENT
Carbon removal can help to
move beyond the traditionally polarized conversations
on climate change by
engendering bipartisan
support for climate action.
With this support, goverment agencies can advance
carbon removal by funding
basic science and technology innovation, and by
creating new markets to
support removal solutions.
EXTERNAL RESOURCES
four carbon removal “must reads”
National Research Council. “Climate Intervention:
Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable
Sequestration.” February 2015.
Oxford University. "Stranded Carbon Assets and
Negative Emissions Technologies." Ben Caldecott,
Guy Lomax, and Mark Workman. In Nature Climate
Change. May 2015.
Global Carbon Project. “Betting on Negative
Emissions.” Sabine Fuss, et. al. In Nature Climate
Change. September 2014.
UC Berkeley. “Biomass enables the transition to a
carbon-negative power system across western North
America.” Daniel Sanchez, James Nelson, Josiah
Johnston, Ana Mileva, and Daniel Kammen. In Nature
Climate Change. February 2015.